TOP OF THE SIXTH

The odds of an average golfer shooting a hole-in- one are estimated at 20,000-to-1. So figure the odds on this.

Charles Snyder, 27, a driver for United Parcel Service, made a hole-in-one on the 135-yard second hole at the Mississippi National Golf Links in Red Wing, Minn., on July 8. The self-proclaimed hacker then repeated the feat on the 145-yard fifth hole. Two aces in the first five holes (he shot an 87)? Did he buy the traditional round of drinks (or two) for the house? Not Charles. "Personally I thought somebody should have bought me one," he told Top of the Sixth. "Frankly, that day I was kind of hung over to begin with."

REVISIONIST HISTORY: The editors of Total Baseball discovered that a game Ty Cobb played in 1910 had been entered in the record books twice. That's why he lost two hits in the book's latest edition, dropping his career hit total to 4,189. Co-editor John Thorn told Inside Sports: "If someone were to find today that Napoleon Bonaparte was 6-foot-2, would we hush it up, or would we deal with it?"

-- Adidas this winter will introduce a hemp sneaker made from cannabis. It's a different strain of cannabis than that used to make marijuana. Otherwise, as Chronicle track and field writer Dan Giesin points out, "you'd definitely want to wear that shoe in the high jump."

-- Last week during the O. J. Simpson trial, somehow the testimony turned to the subject of which sports are the most boring, and Judge Lance Ito told a witness: "Wait till you see baseball." Says Jay Leno: "Actually, when you think about it, baseball has a lot in common with the O. J. trial. Attendance is down in both, they both feature spoiled millionaires, and in both cases somebody's going to walk."

-- "The O. J. defense team is calling five witnesses a day," says David Letterman. "I believe that's called the nickel defense."

-- Toronto's Paul Molitor, admiring the stuff of Kansas City pitcher Kevin Appier: "He's the only pitcher around right now that I go back to the dugout having no idea what pitch it was that I didn't hit."

-- The pay-per-view charge for Mike Tyson's fight against Peter McNeeley on August 19 will range from $39.95 to $59.95. Says Brian Schmitz of the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel: "Wonder what it may cost if Tyson ever fights anybody with a pulse?"